If your ribbon doesn't have a File option in the top left corner, you're not using Outlook on a PC. See What version of Outlook do I have? to get to the export instructions for your version of Outlook.

Choose Open & Export > Import/Export.

Choose Export to a file.

Choose Comma Separated Values.

THIS STEP IS KEY especially if you're borrowing a friend's computer: In the Select folder to export from box, scroll to the top if needed and select the Contacts folder that's under your account. Choose Next.

Choose Browse, name your file, and choose OK.

Confirm where your new contacts file will be saved on your computer, and choose Next.

Locate the new .csv file on your computer and open it with Excel to verify your contacts are there. You'll likely have a lot of empty cells. That's normal.

Generally we recommend closing the file without saving any changes; otherwise the file might get messed up and you won't be able to use it for importing. If that happens you can always run the export process again and create a new file.

You can use Excel to update the information in your .csv file. For tips about working with a list of contacts in Excel, see Create or edit .csv files.

If you borrowed a friend's computer with Outlook on it, you can now remove your account from his version of Outlook. Here's how:

When the export is finished, choose OK to exit the Outlook Options box.

Go to the location on your computer where you saved your contacts, for example, in the Documents folder.

If you exported your contacts as a .csv file, you can use Excel to see what was exported from Outlook. You'll likely have a lot of empty cells. That's normal.

Generally we recommend closing the file without saving any changes; otherwise the file might get messed up and you won't be able to use it for importing. If that happens you can always run the export process again and create a new file.

You can use Excel to update the information in your .csv file. For tips about working with a list of contacts in Excel, see Create or edit .csv files.